The Chicago Bears are in a great spot heading into the 2026 NFL Season. Following a breakout season by quarterback Caleb Williams and entering year two of the Ben Johnson era, the Bears are widely viewed as a Super Bowl contender. However, the offseason hype for the team appears to have slightly dipped following the NFL draft. Lead draft writer for NFL.com, Eric Edholm, ranked the Bears outside his top 10 teams in his post-draft power rankings.
GettyThe Chicago Bears drafted Oregon Ducks safety Dillon Thieneman with the 25th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
With Chicago ranked as Edholm’s 11th-best team, he wrote, “The Bears’ draft class is a mostly-respectable crop on the whole, with some smart targeted additions at need spots. I do question the lack of impact D-line pickups and still wonder about that position group, but overall, Chicago did fairly well. If there’s a mid-round pick to watch, it might be Texas CB Malik Muhammad, who could crack the early rotation. I questioned how the Bears handled the retirement of center Drew Dalman, but Logan Jones was a nice insurance pick to back up the Garrett Bradbury trade. My least-favorite pick? Third-rounder Zavion Thomas, but even he could be a special teams threat and occasional deep-ball artist for Ben Johnson. We’ll see if the Bears can become more of a complete team this season, but they appear headed in the right direction.”
While Edholm’s sentiment ends on an optimistic note, he makes it clear that the Bears have more room to grow and still have a lot to prove.
Chicago Bears Rank Top 10 In Other Notable Power Rankings
Other sports media outlets seem to place Chicago in slightly better favor.
Fox Sports ranks the Bears ninth in their post-draft power rankings.
The Sporting News has Chicago as its seventh-best team.
And The Athletic ranked Chicago as their sixth-best team for next season.
Chicago doesn’t crack the top five tier in any of these outlets’ rankings. The biggest reason appears to be that they didn’t address their biggest issue in free agency or the draft.
The Chicago Bears Neglected the Pass Rush In The Draft
One of Chicago’s biggest weaknesses last season was their inability to pressure the passer consistently. Pro Football Focus had them graded as the eighth-worst pass-rush unit in 2025. It’s hard to ignore the importance of a disruptive edge force, especially watching how the Seattle Seahawks front harassed quarterbacks throughout the postseason.
While the Bears have added notable support to their defense in the offseason, they have been unable to acquire a true pass-rushing force. They were heavily rumored to be involved in trade talks for Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, but that, of course, fell through.
While Chicago could certainly continue to develop the likes of third-year end Austin Booker, their lack of a well-known edge presence outside of Montez Sweat is what is preventing them from cracking the top echelon of power rankings.
Despite this, most of the draft grades have been positive. NFL.com Draft Analyst Chad Reuter gave Chicago an A- for their rookie haul. However, the lack of an edge is still noted as he finishes his remarks with, “The Bears did not use any picks on edge rushers or offensive tackles this year despite their needs at those positions.”
Fox Sports gave Chicago a B+ for their draft grade, while Bartstool’s Pardon My Take didn’t even give the Bears a proper grade and just wrote “Trust Ben Johnson” instead.
While it’s a funny comment by Big Cat of Barstool Sports, it also rings true for most Bears fans’ feelings. Ultimately, Chicago earned the respect of its fans and the entire league last year, and they deserve the faith to trust that they know what they are doing.
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